Secrets Revealed, Secrets Kept
by Robert Teague
Summary: The one thing Becky Botsford fears most has happened; someone has found out her secret identity as WordGirl! How will she handle this?


Author's Note: If you aren't familiar with WordGirl, you should be. A 10 year old superhero dedicated to Truth, Justice, and Use of the Right Word. It's hilarious, and even though it's aimed at 6 to 10 year olds, there are quite a few jokes that only adults will get. The show comes on PBS, and is well worth the time to seek it out. PBS has a website for the show (pbskidsgo dot org slash wordgirl) that has many of the 2-minute shorts it started out with, and some of the 11-minute episodes can be found on YouTube. It's cut from the same cloth as Kim Possible; adventure, humor, great characters, and whack villains. If you discover you like it and are interested, I've started a WordGirl list at Yahoo.

This story was written for the entertainment of WordGirl fans, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story may be reproduced, provided no changes are made, and you let me know.

WordGirl in: Secrets Revealed, Secrets Kept

by Robert Teague

Pssst! Watch for "dilemma" and "blackmail".

wgwgwg

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN THE BIG CITY, AND WE FIND VIOLET HEASLIP APPROACHING THE BOTSFORD HOME... said the Narrator, doing his usual excellent job of setting the scene.

Knock! Knock!

"I'll get it," said Sally Botsford, getting up from the couch.

Her son, TJ, continued to look out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of WordGirl if she flew by. "It's Violet," he told his mother.

Sally opened the door. "Hello, Violet, won't you come in?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Botsford. Is Becky home?" asked Violet in her soft voice as she stepped inside. She was wearing her usual outfit; a long-sleeve violet blouse and stockings and a blue coverall skirt. Her blond hair moved gently as she walked.

"Yes, I believe she's in her room," answered Sally, and closed the door.

"Hi, TJ," said Violet with a wave and a smile.

TJ just rolled his eyes and gave a shudder. Girls and their cooties...

Violet saw the door to Becky's room was open, and found her friend laying on the bed, reading a magazine. Her pet monkey Bob was sitting on the floor, doing something with a book and banana peels. It was odd because there was a squeeze bottle of glue by him. Becky was in her usual clothes as well; green sweater and dark skirt.

She tapped lightly on the door frame, and smiled when Becky turned her way. Bob also glanced over, and gave a wave before returning to whatever he was doing.

"Hi, Bob! Hi, Becky! Whatcha' reading?" asked Violet, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Becky sat up. "The new issue of 'Unicorns Weekly'", she answered, handing it to Violet. "There's an article about a traveling art exhibit about unicorns that will be coming here pretty soon!" She sounded excited. "Do you want to go see it when it does?"

"Well, I wish it were Pegasuses, but sure, I'll go with you," answered Violet with a smile. She put down the magazine.

"Pegasi", corrected Becky, "The plural of 'Pegasus' is 'Pegasi'."

"Really? I didn't know that. Thanks," said Violet with a smile.

Soon the two girls had Becky's doll house set up, and were acting out a story being made up as they went along. Because of Becky's lack of imagination, Violet had to take the lead with the story, and keep Becky's responses focused. Bob sat off to the side watching and making suggestions.

Becky's attention was torn from the dolls as the sound of an alarm came in through the open window.

'Uh-oh! Trouble!' she thought. Using her super-hearing, Becky listened closely. 'I'm going to take care of this statue for good, before WordGirl shows up!' said a male voice. Other voices were immediately raised in protest.

Becky used her superior memory to identify the person. 'Amazing Rope Guy! He's out of jail already?' Immediately she started to touch the star on the chest of her hidden costume.

"EEEP!" said Bob, shaking his head. He shifted his eyes in their guest's direction.

'Oh! I forgot about Violet for a second,' she thought.

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET IN TOO MUCH OF A HURRY, said the Narrator.

Becky frowned but didn't answer.

BECKY FINDS HERSELF STUCK ON THE HORNS OF A... DELEMMA? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? asked the Narrator.

"Oh, a dilemma means having a choice between two bad possibilities," answered Becky.

I SEE. THANKS! ANYWAY, WHAT WILL BECKY DECIDE TO DO? WILL SHE REVEAL HER SECRET IDENTITY AND SAVE THE CITY, OR SAVE HER SECRET IDENTITY AND LET EVIL RUN RAMPANT? WOW, YOU REALLY DO HAVE A DELEMMA!

"Uh... Violet, I, uh, have to..." she started, trying to think of some way to get away without being rude. "Have to... uh"  
'Oh, nothing's coming," she thought.

Violet stared at Becky for a moment, then got up and went to the door. She glanced outside, then closed it. Then she turned to the puzzled Becky. "Go."

"Uh... go where?" she gave a nervous smile.

"Go, now. People need you," said Violet, pointing to the open window.

Becky looked at Bob, who looked back and shrugged.

"I don't know what you mean," said Becky, even more nervous.

Violet sighed. "I know you're WordGirl. Now change and go. We can talk when you get back."

"WordGirl? What makes you think I'm..." started Becky, mind in a whirl.

Violet narrowed her eyes. "Don't argue, go!" She pointed at the window again.

Becky looked toward the Narrator.

DON'T LOOK AT ME! I'M JUST AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE! he said.

Becky knew there was only one thing she could do. She made a growling sound in the back of her throat, then took Bob's hand and turned to the window. "WORD UP!" She touched the star. With a flash of star-shaped gold light, Becky and Bob disappeared to reveal WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face. WordGirl turned and looked at Violet for a moment, then they were gone through the window.

"Wow," said Violet, "That was exciting!" She put down the doll she was still holding, and sat on the bed. She had to get her thoughts in order before WordGirl got back.

As WordGirl gained altitude, inside the Botsford home TJ sat back in excitement. "WordGirl! She just flew overhead!" He leaned forward to watch her as long as he was able to.

wgwgwg

WordGirl, holding Huggy Face, flew over the city toward the park.

"How did Violet find out?" she asked.

"Eeep!" answered CHF, shrugging.

"And what are we going to do? NOBODY knows who we are!" she added.

I'M AFRAID YOU HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM RIGHT NOW. said the Narrator, IF YOU TAKE A LOOK DOWN THERE.

Sure enough, there was Amazing Rope Guy, trying once more to take down the buffalo statue where she had fought him last time. She angled down, and headed toward the ruckus.

"Stop right there, Amazing Rope Guy!" she commanded, landing neatly and putting CHF down.

"WordGirl! I was hoping to finish this before you got here, but it doesn't matter! I've got a few new rope tricks up my sleeve!" said the villain He had the statue wrapped in rope and had been straining to pull it over.

"Tell me something," said WordGirl, "What have you got against this statue? This is twice you've tried to destroy it."

"Because I'm allergic to chicken!" said the blue-clad supervillian. He had yellow gloves and boots, and a rope knot was in the center of his chest.

"Oh... uh, wait, WHAT?" asked a confused WordGirl.

"I went to a restaurant to try some "Buffalo Wings", since I'd never heard of them, and I didn't know buffalo even HAD wings," he explained.

Captain Huggy Face slapped his hand over his face and shook his head. WordGirl glanced at him, then returned her attention to the bad guy.

"I found out too late they're made of chicken, not buffalo. I was in the hospital for weeks. Ever since then, I've hated buffalo, and I'm out to destroy them wherever I find them. And YOU aren't going to stop me!" he finished.

"We'll see about that!" retorted WordGirl, and took an attack position.

Rope Guy dropped the rope he had around the statue, and from someplace pulled out another. He spun it over his head as a lasso and jumped into the air. Throwing it at the young super hero, the loop dropped around her and he quickly pulled it tight, trapping her arms against her body.

"UGH!" said WordGirl, surprised at the speed and strength of the attack, "You must have been practicing! You missed completely last time!"

"Yeah," he answered, "Not much else to do in jail!" Twisting the rope he made it coil like a spring and added to the rope around her. A few seconds later she was completely wrapped in rope.

"There! Now I've got you!" he said, smirking.

"You think so? I don't!" retorted WordGirl. She strained and the rope creaked, but didn't break. "HUH?" she said, and strained at it again, with identical results. "I-- I can't break it!"

There was a collective GASP from the onlookers, and a few fainted.

"Of course not! I met an old friend of yours in prison, and she taught me some things that make it impossible for you to break my ropes! Ha ha ha!" He ranted.

'She? Old friend?' WordGirl thought, and looked at the rope. There were strands of purple woven in it. She took in a breath. "Granny May! She has that nearly unbreakable yarn!"

"Good guess!" said Rope Guy, and returned to trying to pull over the statue.

As everyone looked on in horror, the statue began to tilt. "Won't be long now!" wheezed Amazing Rope Guy, the effort getting to him, and pulled even harder.

WordGirl turned to her ally. "Huggy! Get me out of this! Quick!"

Huggy ran over and studied the rope. He found the end and started running with it. WordGirl spun in a circle in place as the rope unwound. When she was free, she staggered a bit, then sat down. "Ohh... I really don't recommend that..." she put a hand to her head, trying to stop the world from spinning.

Amazing Rope Guy had pulled the statue up to where it was balanced on one edge of the base. Suddenly he slipped and landed on his back, knocking the breath out of himself. The statue overbalanced and tipped over. It would crush him to a pancake, and he couldn't get out of the way in time.

He curled up and put his hands over his eyes, and waited. Seconds passed, and nothing happened. He peeked between his fingers to find WordGirl standing in front of him, smiling and holding the statue back with one hand.

He moved his hands and sat up. "Well... this is awkward..."

The crowd cheered as WordGirl returned the statue to an upright position, and policemen helped Rope Guy to his feet.

As he was led away in handcuffs, he looked up at her, hovering over the statue. "Okay, WordGirl, I owe you one. And I always pay my debts."

"Think nothing of it!" she replied, "All in a day's work for me and Captain Huggy Face!" She flew over and scooped up her sidekick, heading for home.

"Now I've got to talk to Violet," she said.

YES, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT TOO, said the Narrator.

"Eeep!" agreed CHF.

"The sooner we get home, the quicker we'll find out!" said WordGirl, and gained speed, almost cracking the sound barrier.

wgwgwg

The duo flew in the window, and with a flash of gold light WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face were gone, and Becky Botsford and Bob were in their place.

"H- hi," said Violet shyly, looking down. She clasped her hands together.

Becky sat down beside her, but wouldn't look at her. She nervously traced figures in the bedspread while she worked up her courage. She finally broke a long silence by asking, "So...how did you figure it out?"

"I knew something was going on when you started disappearing at odd times, and always just before WordGirl showed up. And when I asked where you were you gave me an excuse that didn't make much sense when I thought about it," said Violet. "But I never questioned what you said because we've been best friends for so long."

She looked at Becky. "I knew for certain when we teamed up to find Eileen the Birthday Girl when she kidnapped Bob. While you were flying with me in your arms I got a good close-up look at WordGirl. The two of you look alike, you talk alike..." she smiled, "And you both use the same soap. I could tell by the scent."

"Oh..." said Becky, then closed her eyes. "What do I have to do?"

Violet looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?"

"You know my secret. What do you want me to do so you'll agree to keep it to yourself?" explained Becky.

Violet stood up, putting her hand over her mouth, and her eyes grew wide. "Is... is that what you think of me? You think I'd take advantage of you like that, that I would... uh... what's the word?"

"Blackmail," answered Becky, "It means to threaten someone to get them to do what you want."

Violet's eyes teared up. "I thought we were best friends!"

"We are!" said Becky, forcefully.

"But you don't trust me! How can we be friends?" said Violet, turning away.

"Violet, I'm sorry! I don't know how to handle this! NOBODY knows I'm WordGirl, not even my parents! I always thought anyone who found out would use it against me!" said Becky, tears appearing in her own eyes. "If people knew who WordGirl is, my enemies could attack my friends and family to get to me."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," replied Violet, thoughtfully. "Okay, I forgive you for not trusting me. I promise not to tell anyone."

"Thank you, Violet," said Becky, and gave her friend a hug. Bob,who had been worried during the exchange, wiped his brow of imaginary sweat.

"Now that you know that I know, I can even help you," said Violet.

"But I already have a sidekick," said Becky, gesturing at Bob.

"Eeep!" agreed Bob.

"No,not like that. If you have to leave, and anyone asks where Becky is, I can tell them something so they won't find out your secret," Violet answered.

"Wow, Violet, that WOULD be a big help! Thank you!" said Becky.

Violet smiled. "Now, where were we?" She knelt and picked up the doll she had dropped earlier. Becky joined her.

WORDGIRL AND CAPTAIN HUGGY FACE HAVE SAVED THE DAY, AND GAINED A NEW ALLY IN THEIR NEVERENDING QUEST FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND USE OF THE RIGHT WORD!


End file.
